THE NEW (AND EXPENSIVE) FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND

If this were a military blog, this post would be labeled a fusillade. The newest and -- EGADS! -- terribly expensive incarnation of the legendary FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND magazine is on its way. There is little to seduce me into dropping twenty-five bucks on the new, Number 1 issue of FM. There's no information on what's inside except for whatever's listed on the cover. And what do we get on said cover? A marginal Gogos-style painting of Sid Haig as the villain from an old and crappy sci-fi TV show. Remember guys -- this is Famous Monsters -- at least put one on the cover of your first issue!

Plus, there's no indication of a page count. Even if this was 200 pages I couldn't see myself spending that kind of money on it. Well, based on the available shred of mummy wrapping called info, you can get an idea of the demographics they're aiming for. I didn't expect this to be a nostalgic shamble down Memory Lane for Baby Boomers, but I do halfway expect it to be a little more monster-forward. Furthermore, if you take a closer look at said cover, you'll notice something missing from the title. Yep, it's called just "Famous Monsters", not "Famous Monsters of Filmland". I mean, WTF? Plus, under more scrutiny you'll notice that the cover date is December 2023. Note to publisher: "It's already January 2024 and you've missed Kong's 90th birthday party (and I bet he's pissed!).

I posted the news over a year ago about the potentially exciting return of FM when Cory Taylor of the heavy metal band, Slipknot announced that he had purchased the rights to publish the magazine. Only time will tell if this is nothing more than a vanity publication that will soon peter out or if this time the alchemy will be right to see a decent run of issues.

I guess that since I haven't seen the entire contents, I may be over-reacting. And maybe five or more dollars of the price of the issue online covers shipping. After all, the new incarnation of FANGORIA is twenty bucks off the rack and FREAKY MONSTERS is $22.95 through the mail (and I haven't bought those, either).

The bottom line is, I wish it well, but it still begs the question: Do we really want to spend that much cash on a monster mag?

Pre-order HERE, if your'e the gambling type.

UPDATE: This morning after I posted this I read on a news feed that Corey Taylor has candidly spoken about his recent mental and physical health issues. This may explain the stalled release of the new FM (as well as his concert tour). Wishing all the best for Mr. Taylor and hope he gets the help that he needs.